Third Wife Surfaces In Vanishing Art Case

May 6, 2006|By Jerome Burdi and Ivette M. Yee Staff Writers and Staff Researcher William Lucey contributed to this report.

Say hello to Wife No. 3.

Susan McIntosh, 49, of Pembroke Pines married accused art thief Patrick McIntosh, 36, who also may be married to two other South Florida women. All say they remain married to him.

Susan McIntosh met her future husband in Hollywood more than 20 years ago. He was a friend of her child's father. In late 1994, the two -- along with Susan McIntosh's mother and child -- moved to New Mexico. They married in March 1995 in Rio Rancho, N.M., records show.

But Patrick McIntosh didn't wait long to stray.

"After we got married he started fooling around on me in New Mexico," Susan McIntosh said Friday. "He's like Pinocchio except the nose it doesn't grow, and if it did he'd be in China now."

McIntosh had been a wanted man since disappearing with a truck with $1.5 million in artwork.

The convicted felon returned to jail Wednesday night to face charges of grand theft after authorities found him in a mobile home park near Gainesville. The truck -- loaded with furniture, photos, sculptures and Milton Avery paintings -- was nearby.

Susan McIntosh said Friday that she came forward after reading a South Florida Sun-Sentinel report of Patrick McIntosh's past.

McIntosh's criminal history dates to 1989, with at least three convictions for theft and one for selling cocaine, state records show. His driver's license was suspended in October 2003, records show.

Before Susan McIntosh came forward, a Palm Beach County sheriff's detective said he would charge Patrick McIntosh with bigamy if it could be proven that he is married to two women.

He married Olga McIntosh, 35, of Dania Beach, in 2003 in Fort Lauderdale and Jennifer McIntosh, 30, of Wellington, in December 2005 in Las Vegas, records show. Divorce records could not be confirmed.

Susan McIntosh said she was shocked to find out in the newspaper about Patrick McIntosh's marriage to Olga McIntosh. She also thought he was divorced from Jennifer McIntosh, she said.

Shortly after catching her newlywed husband cheating on her in 1995, Susan McIntosh asked for a divorce, she said.

"He said, `No, I love you very much,'" Susan McIntosh said.

Then he was gone.

Susan McIntosh became disenchanted with her life in the Southwest and moved back to Florida. Her husband called. Their relationship rekindled. He took her to get a tattoo and she had his name written on her ankle. Though he may have been the only man in her life, she wasn't the only woman in his, she said.

"He even fooled around on me when you sent him out to McDonald's," Susan McIntosh said. "The man can charm your eyeballs out of your head."

Even without a valid driver's license, Patrick McIntosh was hired last month by an art-transport company and was to drive the Budget rental truck to artists, galleries and other clients in New York and other Northeast cities.

David Jones -- owner of the transport company, David Jones Fine Art Services -- maintains he did a basic background check on McIntosh.

"His license was clear and he came recommended by others," Jones said on Friday. "Everybody was fooled. He was good with people, good handling things. There was nothing dangerous about him."

Jones said he will be delivering the art shipment himself.

"Now I'm driving," Jones said. "This is a small company and I hope it doesn't get any smaller."

Irving Luntz, owner of the Irving Gallery on Worth Avenue in Palm Beach, had six sculptures headed for Washington, D.C., and New York City in the stolen shipment.

"I think this was an anomaly," Luntz said. "David Jones is very reliable and always has been."

Officials of the Boca Raton Museum of Art, which was shipping the seven Avery paintings with Jones, declined to comment on whether they would continue using the transport company.

"The museum's only concern is the safe return of the art," George Bolge, executive director, said in a statement. He called the incident an "unfortunate occurrence."

Typically, galleries use local companies to return artwork to artists or loaning institutions, often hiring by word of mouth. Some, such as Emblem Art Gallery in Fort Lauderdale, have their own drivers.

While the galleries insure the artwork, they still can be hurt by theft.

"If you use a company, it's the company's responsibility to check out their drivers." said Ruth Lawitschka, Emblem's gallery manager. "Even though there's insurance, these are original works of art and they're irreplaceable."

Staff Researcher William Lucey contributed to this report.

Jerome Burdi can be reached at jjburdi@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6531.